Don't Get Left In The Dark

OUR VIEWS

By Approving A Proposed Penny Increase In The Local Sales Tax, Voters Could Help Shed Some Light On Major Roadways In Orange County.

September 15, 1997|By Fuchsia

Pick a county road in Orange County - almost any road.

Chances are pretty good that when the sun falls below the horizon, the road will be bathed in darkness - save for a beacon of automobile headlights that signal oncoming traffic.

A pedestrian hazard?

Definitely. And it's getting even worse as more rural areas succumb to development pressures and housing subdivisions seemingly spring up overnight.

Not only are pedestrians more vulnerable, motorists, too, are imperiled. Cars turning onto those major roads at night can be nearly invisible to speeding motorists.

State law, though, precludes local governments from spending impact fees collected from new developments on amenities such as street lighting. Instead, the law specifically requires that impact fees be spent on improving road capacity in the immediate area where the fee was collected.

That leaves dozens of Orange County roads in the dark.

If Orange County voters approve a proposed penny increase in the local sales tax, though, that could change.

The proposal that voters will be asked to endorse includes nearly $6.9 million to install lighting on 22 major roadways in Orange County. In all, roughly 100 miles of moonlit road that now poses a safety hazard would be illuminated with street lamps.

Is it worth it?

Look at the accompanying picture.

Would you want to take an evening stroll on Conway Road between the Bee-Line Expressway and Hoffner Avenue? Would you want your children to be biking or walking on this road after dark?

The same questions could be asked about any of the 22 county roads that would benefit from the sales-tax increase, from Alafaya Trail and University Boulevard in the eastern parts of the county to Wekiva Springs Road in the north, to Dr. Phillips Boulevard in the western reaches.

A few street lights could make all the difference in the world on those roads. They could mean the difference between life and death.